NJPW Power Struggle 2015 (Preview & Predictions)

New Japan Pro Wrestling returns to the former Bodymaker Colosseum (current Edion Arena) in Osaka, Japan Saturday morning for NJPW Power Struggle 2015. One of the last major stops on the road to Wrestle Kingdom 10, Power Struggle offers us both a brief glimpse into the emerging card as well as new directions as we draw ever closer to the big one. The main event sees Shinsuke Nakamura defend his NJPW Intercontinental Championship against Bullet Club lynchpin Karl Anderson. Though Anderson has been largely stuck in the IWGP Tag Team Title picture over the past year, he’s certainly capable of not only main eventing in a spot like this but delivering an all-time great match. Elsewhere on the card, the Super Jr. Tag Tournament concludes as imports Matt Sydal and Ricochet battle NJPW regulars Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero). It’s sure to be an eventful show, so let’s get to the preview. But first…

Meet Our Prediction Crew:

Joe Lanza: Co-host of the Voices of Wrestling podcast, NJPW reviewer and one of the co-owners of this here website. Find him on Twitter at @JoeMLanza.

Rob McCarron: Co-host of the Shake them Ropes podcast, also one of the pillars of Voices of Wrestling. Find him on Twitter at @ShakeThemRopes.

Rich Kraetsch: Co-host of the Voices of Wrestling podcast and one of the co-owners of the website. Find him on Twitter at @VoicesWrestling

Joe Lanza: Gedo has truly gone all in on his rematch gimmick, as this is a virtual rematch of the opener at King of Pro Wrestling, minus Juice Robinson on the young lion side, and KUSHIDA on the veteran side. I like the idea of keeping the lions all on one side, even if it means the outcome of the bout becomes a formality.

Rich Kraetsch: I said it in my most recent Road to Power Struggle review, if you skipped the Young Lion matches during these Road To shows you missed one of the three best matches night in and night out. This match will not meet those lofty expectations, there’s just too many guys and not enough time. Still, we’re on borrowed time with Tanaka and Komatsu so savor every last minute you get to see them in a New Japan ring.

Joe Lanza: A completely random match, with Doc shunned to the prelims thanks to Karl Anderson’s title shot, and nary a current rival on either side. The obvious outcome is Makabe scoring the fall on Hall, but no team with Captain New Japan & Juice Robison should ever be considered a lock to win.

Prediction: Captain New Japan, Juice Robinson and Togi Makabe

Rob McCarron: Captain New Japan has gotten a few victories himself on this Road to Power Struggle Tour. I believe his team will take the win here. While Makabe is certainly the favorite to score the fall, this tour has proven that CNJ is a viable option in victory now, as well.

Prediction: Captain New Japan, Juice Robinson and Togi Makabe

Rich Kraetsch: Quite literally the “Okay, who haven’t we put on the show yet” match. There’s nothing intriguing, no hook, nothing. With that said, this should still be fun with the finish in some doubt. Juice seems like an obvious candidate to take the fall but the Captain or Makabe could definitely get a pinfall on Hall as well.

Prediction: Captain New Japan, Juice Robinson and Togi Makabe

EVIL vs. Hirooki Goto

Joe Lanza: Easily my most anticipated match of the show. The EVIL gimmick got off to a great start, laying out Goto in a great angle and adding a new blood to the heavyweight mix. These men work similar styles, but while I’m expecting a slugfest, it’ll be interesting to see if Watanabe makes adjustments to his style to compensate for the gimmick change.

Prediction: Hirooki Goto

Rob McCarron: I’ll bite on EVIL. This is a quick ramp up to him potentially having an important match at Wrestle Kingdom. On the other side, Goto was working main events with Nakamura a few months ago and is back to the deep undercard, albeit in one of the few singles matches on the show. I’m interested to see where EVIL goes, and how the former Watanabe looks in the newer role.

Prediction: EVIL

Rich Kraetsch: EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! The former Takaki Watanabe finally clicked in his final few months stateside and should translate that new found confidence to a New Japan ring. Goto is a perfect first opponent for him as they have very similar styles and characteristics. I fully expect EVIL to get the surprising win here as he starts his ascension up the card.

Joe Lanza: Sleeper pick for match of the night, as this is loaded with great workers who are well versed in working a spotty sprint.

Prediction: Time Splitters & reDRagon

Rob McCarron: A quickly paced, all out, Junior dash. Sign me up! The less fortunate tag teams from this month’s Super Junior Tag Tournament make up this 8-man tag, which doesn’t bring the usual groans and uninterest like many PPV undercard multi-man tags have done this year. With the current IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions on the side of the Time Splitters, that combination has to be seen as the favorites.

Prediction: Time Splitters & reDRagon

Rich Kraetsch: The Super Junior Tag Tournament losers will make us all winners with this wild, fast-paced spot fest. They won’t get enough time to tell a good story but who cares, just flip, baby!

Joe Lanza: RPG Vice worked like a team possessed in the semifinals against reDRagon, which was one of the best junior tag matches in ages, and there is no reason this match shouldn’t deliver as well. I see this as a 50/50 match. Ricochet is signed for the Dome, so a junior tag title match makes sense for him. RPG Vice beat the champs earlier in the tournament, ending reDRagon’s 30+ match unbeaten streak, so Romero & Beretta challenging is logical, too. The coin flip outcome gives the bout even more appeal.

Prediction: RPG Vice

Rob McCarron: Roppongi Vice beat the current tag team champions in the semi-finals to get here, while Ricochet & Sydal are the fresh new team with exciting possibilities. While not safe to say, I feel like we’re getting a multi-team Jr Tag match at the Dome in January. To get there, I see Ricochet & Sydal winning this Tag Tournament, getting a title shot at reDRagon in December, and winning the belts. This allows reDRagon to get their rematch at the Dome, with RPG Vice getting into the match as well by being the team that beat reDRagon during this tournament. So we’ll have at least a 3-way tag title match in Tokyo on January 4.

Prediction: Matt Sydal & Ricochet

Rich Kraetsch: Joe brings up a good point about Roppongi Vice beating reDRagon and the significance there but like Rob, I see it more as a way to get as many teams as possible into the Dome Jr. Tag Match or otherwise, as a way to prevent reDRagon from losing a high-profile final to Sydal & Ricochet. We know Ricochet is booked for the Dome, this is a former Best of the Super Juniors winner and one of their most over outsiders, if you think he’s going to be in a random six-man, well, you’re lost.

Joe Lanza: With Nakamura doing the open challenge gimmick for the Intercontinental title, all of a sudden AJ vs Nak at the Dome, once thought to be a formality by some, looks like it won’t be happening. It’s always possible that AJ could still answer the challenge, but that would come off very anti-climatic with most figuring the introduction of such a gimmick means that a big name outsider is coming in. That would open up Styles for a potential ROH World Title defense at Wrestle Kingdom if he beats Jay Lethal back in the States. One thing is certain. YOSHI-HASHI is eating a Styles Clash in the center of ring in this bout.

Prediction: AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale

Rob McCarron: Poor YOSHI-HASHI, a loser is you. Where AJ Styles goes from here is the big question. Does he answer Shinsuke Nakamura’s open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship on January 4? Does he win the ROH World Championship, followed by defending the title at the Tokyo Dome? Does he lose to Lethal, lose to EVIL at the the Dome, then work Finn Bálor for the next few months in Winter Park? He’s got options, but none of those options should change this match’s result.

Prediction: AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale

Rich Kraetsch: The biggest question with this match is going to be AJ Styles’ status. We know he’s probably beating YOSHI-HASHI in the middle of the ring with a Styles Clash but what’s next. Do we get any hints after this match? Do we see him defending the ROH World Title at Dome? Are we working ourselves into a shoot and he eventually is the challenge for Nakamura’s IC title?

Prediction: AJ Styles & Bad Luck Fale

NEVER Openweight ChampionshipTomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Tomoaki Honma

Joe Lanza: If Honma wins, Gedo is a fool for not doing this match at the Dome. If Ishii wins, it was the right call to do it here.

Prediction: Tomohiro Ishii

Rob McCarron: It’s weird to say that someone here has the chance to get their win back… on Tomoaki Honma. Ishii should do just that, keeping the NEVER Openweight Title. Could a defense against EVIL be in line in January, or does Shibata get in the picture? You never know with this title, even though it seems like we’ve only had three men in the picture of this division for the entire year.

Prediction: Tomohiro Ishii

Rich Kraetsch: Sorry guys, Ishii is winning here. As Joe points out, there’s no reason whatsoever to have Honma’s major title win happen anywhere but the Dome. Of course, I don’t think Honma is ever going to have a major title win so the point may be moot. Regardless, Honma is just keeping the seat warm for whomever the next challenger is be it EVIL, Shibata, Kota Ibushi, etc.

Joe Lanza: All sorts of intrigue here, but none of it involving Tanahashi & Okada. Will Sakuraba work Wrestle Kingdom, just days after a shoot fight that he will almost surely lose against Shinya Aoki? Is the Shibata/Naito program over? Will the Shibata/Makabe issue carry over to January 4? Is this the start of another Shibata/Sakuraba feud? Where does the injured Kota Ibushi fit in at Wrestle Kingdom, since this match features potential opponents?

Prediction: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata

Rob McCarron: Lots of questions going into this match, as Joe Lanza pointed out. Here’s one answer, though: Hotcakes. Can never go wrong with hotcakes. Back to the match, let’s all look forward to Shibata’s interactions with Okada. It may mean nothing for the short term future, but it should be exciting action contained in this one night. Shibata was thrown into this bout due to the injury of Kota Ibushi, so I really don’t believe this match holds the key to Shibata’s future at all.

Prediction: Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata

Rich Kraetsch: I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that the focus of this match is on everyone besides the two who will be main eventing the biggest show of the year in just a few weeks but here we are.

Joe Lanza: This is the kind of match that makes you wish Vegas took wrestling action, even though you’d probably have to lay six figures to win back anything significant here. Nobody is pretending that Anderson can win, as this is the ultimate placeholder defense. It should be an excellent match, but the real intrigue lies in who marches down the aisle to challenge Nak for the Dome.

Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura

Rob McCarron: Yeah, Shinsuke Nakamura is winning. That’s not the fun part. The fun part is making wild speculations about who Nakamura could be defending his Intercontinental Championship against at the Tokyo Dome. The most likely candidate is obviously Bill Goldberg. I’d even throw Baron Corbin in there as a possibility, but Corbin would have to win the belt if that match were to take place, so it isn’t a favorite. I’ve heard the name Keith Van Horn thrown around, as it’s no secret he’s always wanted to wrestle for New Japan and almost gave up a promising basketball career to do so. Less likely options like Naomichi Marufuji and AJ Styles are getting some mentions, but let’s be real: It’s going to be Goldberg*.

Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura

Rich Kraetsch: For those of you new to New Japan looking at this match and wondering why Karl Anderson, the goofball Bullet Club guy of all people is getting this match, it’s time to educate yourself. Watch this, then this. Anderson gets lost for much of the year teaming with Doc Gallows but when put into a main event, a singles match or the G1 Climax, he delivers big. Anderson has a 0% chance of winning this match with the challenge being making you the viewer and the Osaka faithful believe even for a second that he could shock the world.